The invention disclosed herein relates generally to virtual assistants and, more particularly to a personal messaging assistant for locating a recipient and sending a message in accordance with the recipient""s instructions.
Present messaging technology allows a mobile worker, or other messaging technology user, to receive communications via email, fax, wireless telephone, conventional telephone, voice mail and paging. Commercially available electronic or virtual assistants provide an answering service of sorts for the mobile worker and integrate the receipt of messages via the aforementioned messaging technologies thus allowing a mobile worker to receive messages through a single point of service. The mobile worker can call the virtual messaging assistant and, via a voice user, interface, retrieve and answer messages received via various technology.
The virtual assistant, such as, for example, PORTICO(trademark) by General Magic Inc. of Sunnyvale California, provides information and messaging management services for receiving voice mail, email, outgoing faxes, calendar information, address book information and newspaper stories. The service receives the aforementioned information with the assistance of a voice user interface and provides the information to the mobile user via telephone or web browser. Calendar, address and telephone information and other personal information is provided to the system through the use of a Personal Information Manager (PIM) accessory such as, for example, Microsoft Outlook(trademark), or through the use of an electronic organizer, such as, for example, a PalmPilot(trademark). These systems are interfaced with the virtual assistant and information is downloaded to the virtual assistant database. Virtual assistant technology has made the mobile worker""s message management easier but has not solved some of the mobile worker""s messaging problems, such as, for example, the need to have the mobile worker""s itinerary checked and have communications delivered to the mobile worker at the worker""s destination. Another problem that has not been solved is the need for the mobile worker to set messaging preferences and have messages delivered according to those preferences.
Prior to the availability of virtual assistants, a mobile worker was dependent upon a personal administrative assistant maintaining the mobile worker""s office, answering the mobile worker""s telephone, and forwarding the mobile worker""s messages, etc. However, administrative assistants are not generally available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and therefore, the mobile worker has been, at times, unable to obtain messages received by certain messaging technology, such as a fax; the fax document can be waiting at the mobile worker""s office and the administrative assistant could be unavailable to forward it to the mobile worker. Also, the mobile worker has been unable to have an assistant available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to prioritize and forward messages as needed.
Services have been available for a number of years to cater to mobile workers"" needs by providing solutions and adapting to unique issues created by travel, scheduling and work styles. One such service is The Central Office(trademark) of Santa Rosa, Calif. which provides mobile workers with postal addresses, receives, opens and scans mail, encrypts scanned mail, forwards scanned mail to the mobile worker""s email address, and forwards the received/opened mail to a desired address. The service will also prepare and deposit checks. The mobile worker receives scanned mail by accessing an email account. The service gives the mobile worker the flexibility to travel and receive mail without visiting a physical address. The Central Office(trademark) is a service business and mobile workers are charged a fee based upon the number of pages scanned per month.
While virtual assistant technology has made the messaging of the mobile worker more manageable, a method and system are needed which receive messages and process those messages according to personal preferences of the mobile worker. Thus, one of the problems of the prior art is that it is unable to process messages according to user preferences and forward those messages to a user""s destination. Another problem of the prior art is that administrative assistance is not available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Another problem of the prior art is that the mobile worker""s plans frequently change and there is no means by which a virtual assistant can check to verify that the mobile worker has arrived at his or her scheduled destination, prior to forwarding messages and other information. Another problem of the prior art is that there is no means by which a virtual assistant can check for the mobile worker""s arrival before forwarding sensitive material.
This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing automated personal messaging assistance with the capability of processing messages in accordance with a user""s personal preferences, including checking a user""s destination for arrival and forwarding messages by a preferred modality. The present invention is directed to, in a general aspect, a method of providing personal messaging using a virtual messaging assistant. The virtual messaging assistant has a voice user interface and provides a human-like voice which interfaces with the user and with callers. The personal messaging assistant provides messaging assistance in accordance with user selected preferences. The personal messaging assistant provides forwarding of messages to a destination in accordance with user selected preferences. The personal messaging assistant receives incoming messages. The personal messaging checks the user""s calendar to find out where the user is expected to be. The personal messaging assistant then calls the expected destination and inquires whether the user has arrived. If the user has arrived, the personal messaging assistant forwards messages by a preferred mode, such as, for example, via facsimile, to the destination. The personal messaging assistant handles important confidential messages by making sure that the user is at the destination prior to forwarding those messages. Thus, the user is provided with a service which was previously unavailable in a continuous manner.
The method of the present invention provides mobile workers and other users with an efficient way of handling messages. Another advantage of the present invention is that the personal messaging assistant gives the user the ability to avoid situations where important confidential information is forwarded to an expected destination to which the user never arrives. Another advantage of the present invention is that the user is afforded personal messaging assistants 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without the expense of hiring one or more administrative assistants to be available around the clock. Other advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification. The aforementioned advantages are illustrative of the advantages of the various embodiments of the present invention.